Ten Chances to Love
by Pinkuro
Summary: Written for LJ Prompt 10 "I love you" in 10 different languages. House finds love notes for him and wonders who did it and why. Prequel to "In Memoriam" The story of how House and Chase got together. House/Chase oneshot now beta'ed


**Title: **Ten Chances to Love

**Author: **Pinku Aisu Kuriimu

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing, but at least I can write this, so it's okay… right?

**Summary:** To Prompt 10."I love you" in 10 different languages. House finds love notes for him and wonders who did it and why.

**Pairing:** House and Chase (yes it is \o\)

**Warnings:** Answering for Prompt 10 of house_chase community on livejournal:

_Prompt 10._ "I love you" in 10 different languages:

Spanish - Te quiero / Te amo  
Greek - S'agapo  
Latin - Te amo / Vos amo  
Maltese - Inhobbok  
Irish - Taim i' ngra leat  
Italian - Ti amo  
German - Ich liebe dich  
Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort  
French - Je t'aime  
Bulgarian – Obicham te

**Edit: **beta read by spike_1790, thank you!

* * *

TEN CHANCES TO LOVE

It was Monday, the beginning of week, and the worst day ever for his leg. House always wondered why Monday had to exist. And he always came up with the answer that it only existed to make him suffer.

That day seemed like a usual Monday; he woke up, feeling pain in his leg, swallowed a pill and after a couple of minutes, he got up and went to work. When he got there, it was already… about nine o'clock, his usual time.

He went into his office, put his backpack on the table, and went to sit on his chair…

"_What is this?" _ He thought when he looked at his chair. On the seat cushion, a strange piece of paper lay. Why there was a piece of paper over his chair- and what that piece of paper was doing there- he had no idea, but, he picked it up.

The piece of paper was folded in two, and he had to unfold it to see what was inside.

When he did, he found the strangest message, written in capital, hand written letters in blue pen.

_TE QUIERO _

Okay, it was clear now that it wasn't a normal Monday. Especially because this was just a stupid joke, and House didn't like jokes. He was going to figure out who did this, fast.

The message was written in Spanish, the words meaning "I love you". The diagnostician knew this because he spoke the language fluently. It was a very simple sentence, so the person who wrote could very well have found the words on the internet or in a book, or even from a dictionary.

But who would want to play a prank on House? Who would want to make House believe he had a secret admirer?

Well, many people, to be honest. But how many of those would have the courage to act? That would be a smaller number.

He looked around the differential room, looking for the people most willing to play a prank on him. They were the first suspects since they were closest to him, and it was much easier for them to get in his office than it would be for anyone else. Cameron was there, and she did say she liked him before, and even if she didn't they had kissed when she was trying to get a blood sample from him. But this was so not her style; she was direct, right to the point. And, Boy, what a point that was! Next one, Chase… too pretty to even think about it. He was a kiss-ass and _god,_ that hair… Last one: Foreman. He almost laughed at the thought. The African American Neurologist sending a loving note? Dear… Maybe if he was drunk, or if he lost a bet… either way he would never, never, at least in House's mind, humiliate himself like this. Even if it was a prank, he was too proud for it; like House himself.

The only two who were left were Wilson and Cuddy. The latter would never plan this alone. She didn't have enough courage. The only person left who could help her, and have motives to play such a prank on House was his best friend, James Wilson.

"I'm sorry, House, but I didn't send you a love note" Wilson told him, laughing.

"Liar!" House accused him, walking in circles around his friend's office.

"I'm not lying. Now, why don't you accept the fact that, once in a while, a real human being really likes you enough to have the courage to tell you? I swear on my pretty ties that I have nothing to do with this" Wilson tried to assure the diagnostician, his voice as serious as he could make it.

"Well since you swore on your ties…" House said sarcastically. The oncologist giggled as he saw the other doctor getting up and leaving the room.

The next day, House was still thinking it was a prank, but he was more willing to think it could actually be a real love note after talking to Wilson, so it was progress.

Right at that moment, he was thinking who could have sent such a thing to him. A patient would not have the means. Cuddy would, and House would like to have those twins for him, but, no, his boss yelled too angrily at him that morning to actually love him. And she did not authorize anybody in to his office, either House had asked.

Foreman hated him too much to do it, and boy, the humiliation he would feel sending it... The older doctor could feel the laugh rising inside of him. Cameron? Not her style, she would say it directly, like when she demanded a dinner or kissed him to get a blood sample. And she claimed she didn't love him anymore, so she was off of list. Chase? The blond did do something similar with Cameron a couple of months ago with that "Tuesday. I like you" stuff, and he _was_ an ass kisser and had proved to be an old fashioned romantic. God, it wasn't Chase was it? Was he a hooker who jumped from one to another? And did Chase speak Spanish? Well, he was pretty… and that hair… _No!_ What was he thinking? He had not discarded it as a prank yet! That was it. A prank!

He walked to his office table. Another note was on his chair. He picked up the paper and unfolded it.

It was the same handwriting, with capital letters in blue pen, and the love words, but this time they were in a different language.

_S'AGAPO_

"_Greek now… Huh…"_ Okay he had to talk with a certain "British" employee… Fast!

The Diagnostician looked at the conference room. Only Chase was there. Why had Chase got there so early? And when had the blond woken up? Did he sleep at all? The point was that the blond was the only one who could have sent it, being the only one there. On the previous day when he left there was no note and House had left and locked his office.

The older doctor looked at the young male. He looked suspicious, sitting there, doing crossword puzzles and biting his pen… It was him! He had the "guilty" look!

He burst into the differential room. "You!" He yelled angrily, pointing a finger at the blue-green eyed male.

Chase said nothing. He just turned his head when he heard someone walking in, and looked at House when he saw it was him. "Me?" he finally asked, not so innocently.

"Yes you!" He threw the two notes at the table, in front of the Intensivist. "What is this all about?"

"I thought you spoke enough languages to know…" Chase answered. House saw the younger man's eyebrows frown.

"Yes but why? What will do you gain doing these pranks? Is somebody paying you to do this? Or are you just a hooker waiting for me to pay you for your services?"

Surprisingly for House, before answering him, Chase smiled, warmly and weirdly, the kind of smile he had only seen him making for patients, when these were little kids. "It's not a prank, and I'm not a hooker, House. I can assure you" He said before turning his head down, going back to his crosswords.

"But wh-" House couldn't finish his sentence. The Australian interrupted him.

"Why are you so suspicious? Can't you accept that somebody truly loves you and wanted you to know it?" Chase looked at him in the eyes.

"The world makes me this suspicious. It is not a shining star, and people are not like they are in those Disney movies, you know? You can't trust anybody." House answered in a low, emotionless, tone.

"Even so, if it is the way you describe, it doesn't mean you have to be miserable, and you don't have to be alone. You're not a martyr. You don't need to be suspicious of every single drop of chance of happiness that falls on you. You can actually be happy with someone, you know? All you have to do is give it a chance." Chase said slowly, tight accept marking each word. He was looking House in the eyes, directly at those deep blue orbs. Both men looked serious.

"With you? Are you serious?" House laughed.

Chase shrugged, going back to his puzzles, and planning not to stop, at least until the other two ducklings came in. "Vos Amo," he said without looking up, without raising his voice, no strong emotions emanating from him.

"Latin? Did you learn that in seminary school?"

Chase smiled in that weird way again, still without looking up, and nodded a little.

At that moment, they turned as they heard the glass door moving. It was Cameron and Foreman walking in. "Good Morning."

For the next couple of days, House didn't find a note on his chair. He even thought it was going to be a normal week from now on. No more love notes at all. He thought that the blond had given up after they talked the other day. He continued as if nothing had happened. They did differentials, the boss called the Intensivist incompetent and British and Wombat, and the others tried to ignore it, as usual.

It was the third day without notes over on his chair. A Friday evening, almost ready to leave for the day, but still with many hours waiting for him at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, the doctor was bored and decided to check his emails. That was when he found three very peculiar emails, all from the same email address, but sent on different dates.

The first was sent on Wednesday, and it said in capital, bold, black letters in Lucida Calligraphy.

_**INHBBOK **_

The second, with the same type of letter, was written in capital, bolded black:

_**TAIM I' NGRA LEAT **_

The third, the newest, and the most recent date from today, was the same just in a different language. But the message was the same.

_**TI AMO**_

He read the emails, all of them saying "I love you" in different languages. The first Maltese, the second Irish, and the last, Italian, and he didn't even have to be a doctor to realize they were from Chase. _"Damn, he didn't give up," _He thought. At this point, House was so annoyed that he was thinking of accepting Chase's proposal just to get rid of the love notes. But no, he would not do it, right?

The older doctor sighed. Perhaps he should try. Cameron had liked it, until Chase had decided he wanted a serious deal… And if the Intensivist was so insistent, maybe he would even start calling him Cameron if he didn't accept it! The older doctor shivered at the thought. But hey, he had good hair. Perhaps he was a good lover too!

"One dinner. If it's horrible, you'll leave me alone," he ordered the younger doctor, who was packing his stuff to leave for the day.

The blond closed his locker, turned his head to eye House and smile to him.

"See you at eight?"

"Yeah"

"Okay. See ya" Chase left, but not without blinking to House on his way out.

"humf. Hooker…" House grumped, before turning to leave too. He had a date.

At Eight o'clock, House was standing at Chase's door, wearing a cheap suit and carrying his nice cane. He rang the bell, and surprisingly, it didn't take long for the other to answer.

The happiness in the old man's eyes soon faded when he saw when Chase was wearing. It was a three peaces suit, without jacked, but a vest and tie. The problem was, the color didn't match; they were horrible and print made House want to throw up!

"Your other good clothes were in the laundry… I suppose…?" House gave him a chance. He truly did not want to be called Cameron.

"What do you mean?" Chase asked innocently.

The other sighed "Nothing, come on"

They got in House's car. Chase opened the door for himself, and House went on the driver seat, he drove to the restaurant, where the older doctor had got, miraculously, a reservation for them that evening for that same night. That was very hard to get in a good restaurant.

The beginning was very quiet, House didn't know what say, and Chase didn't seem to dare to talk. Instead they just enjoyed the delicious meal.

It was not a bad silence. It was actually a comforting silence. House found it very strange, since the other was not one of his friends or anyone close to him at all. He was just the ass-kisser. He could be nice, and the best of the ducklings, but they were not close enough for House to have a nice, comfortable silence with- at least not outside work and without work talk. And that was very weird for him.

For Chase, the comfortable silence was not weird. He liked the man. Being with him would never be weird.

"So…" House decided to stop this annoying bug in his ear, since Chase was obviously not going to "…I thought you liked Cameron… And you said you're not a hooker… I'm confused now…"

Chase giggled. House looked at him. Was this cute? God, somebody poisoned his meal! "I like Cameron. She's a nice girl. I've always loved you… I guess… before I was with her I didn't want to be with anybody besides you, and when I was with her… When she made me that proposal, I realized I didn't have to… But then… then… I don't like to be with anybody if it's not a relationship... so I tried to be with her, I fought for her... and that's when I realized... I could fight for you as well... that was when I realized being with you was possible. Before that, I didn't think it was actually possible, I guess..." Chase answered. He didn't look up, just kept eating, but House could hear in his voice that he was being sincere.

"That's so pwetty... I'm touched..." The older man mocked, making movements of a tear dropping on his right eye to be more "dramatic."

"Heh..." Chase ate one more piece of his meal "So, why did you accept?"

"I feared you would call me Cameron if I didn't... And the vision of eternal loving notes scared me to death too!"

Chase giggled again "Yeah that was truly going to happen..."

"Good. I saw it before coming..." House played the game, saying it sarcastically, before going back to eat a piece of food.

"Good for me I guess..." Chase smirked and drunk a little of his no-alcoholic drink "By the way, _Ich liebe dich._"

"German? When did you learn German?" House asked.

"Huh... my dad taught me..." Chase answered jokingly, rolling his eyes up.

"Ooh I should have guessed..." House laughed.

Both laughed together. That was better- no silence, just a good conversation. An Actually good conversation...

It was good because Chase didn't judge him. He never accused House of being addict or that he was killing himself or he should do something for himself not to die soon. He never did in the three years they worked together, the diagnostician noticed, and he was not going to. No, he didn't quite understand, though he liked the idea of somebody who was not a Wilson nor a Cuddy near him.

"Your leg hurts. It's different. It means you actually need the medicine" Chase answered when House made a comparison of himself and Chase's mother. "And _Ta gra agam ort_"

"Great. You love me in Gaelic too. But that doesn't mean I'm better than other choices..."

"If you know you know it can be better choices than you, it already makes you a good choice because it means you're not selfish and you know who you are" Chase explained "I know what I'm getting into."

"Good, because I don't know what I'm getting..."

After changing the subject many times, they actually have a good conversation.

...A very good conversation, indeed.

...Perhaps too good... The fact was, they were there, they finished eating couple of hours ago, but they continued there, talking, laughing, and having fun, just like best friends... or perhaps something else...

"You didn't!" House said

"I did! I swear! I even..." Chase laughed, House laughed with him. Not before House interrupting him, in a very unpredictable way.

The blond looked up with wide eyes. Was House... did House... Had House just kissed him? God it was good... _Please don't make it stop..._

House didn't quite know what he did, he just saw Chase laughing... his eyes half closed as his teeth showed up in a beautiful form... He... He suddenly wanted to have it for himself...

When the kiss ended, Chase was still for a couple of seconds with his eyes half closed, mouth half open, still feeling the delicious flavor of House inside of him. "_Je t'aime_" He whispered. "Please don't leave me... Please don't play with me like this... Don't do it if you don't... please... please..._ I love you_..._"_He whispered, but voice cracking, he was almost crying.

Chase collapsed on House's shoulder. The older felt like he was trying not to cry, but he was too surprised by hearing the words he had been hearing and reading all week long in his first language, to actually say something.

Instead he just hugged the other was he cried. The waiters and Waitresses offered to help, but House denied.

Sometime after this, Chase heard House whispering something in his ear. "I don't leave you, if you promise not to leave me." He was tired of people leaving him, betraying him, of being lonely. The Blue-green eyed doctor was right- he could give happiness a chance.

"I promise" Chase whispered and smiled, weirdly once again, before hugging House back.

And then came, finally, that comfortable silence. That one House didn't feel earlier, he felt that moment, hugging Chase on his shoulder; the other had stopped crying when he proposed his promise.

Now they were not just best friends, but lovers. And House felt comfortable with this.

He would not be alone anymore. He actually could be happy. He was going to give himself a chance to be happy.

"_Obicham te_" House said when they were driving home. Chase was looking at the window, smiling, as he looked at the lights over the highway.

"What?" He turned to look at, what he now could call lover.

"It's 'I love you' in Bulgarian, I guess you don't speak that language, huh?" House answered, Chase smiled as he shook his head.

A drop of happiness was falling on them.

THE END

* * *

A/N: I wanted a very soapy story, so I came up with this prompt... I hope you liked, I sure did! X3 and for those who said I just write angst, ON YOUR FACES! xD


End file.
